ACM seeks to educate policymakers, the computing community, and the public about policies that will foster and accelerate innovations in computing, computing education, and related disciplines in ways that benefit society.

The Department of Homeland Security has finally announced the membership of its expert advisory committee for privacy issues. The good news for USACM is that Professor Lance Hoffman from George Washington University is one of the 20 appointees and is also a USACM member. Dr. Hoffman helped bring the Computers, Privacy, and Freedom conference under […]

“The recently disclosed privacy breach at the data collection giant ChoicePoint, in which con artists gained access to the Social Security numbers, addresses and other personal data of nearly 145,000 people, has exposed the shortcomings of the laws governing the data-mining industry and consumer privacy. […] But whatever the specific legal fallout of the ChoicePoint […]

“A major break-in at one of the nation’s largest information brokers could usher in regulation for companies that have trafficked in data unfettered for years, computer-security experts and privacy advocates say. New York, Texas and Georgia are among states pressing for laws that mirror California’s breach law, which requires companies to notify residents if their […]

“A California woman has sued ChoicePoint Inc. for fraud and negligence after criminals gained access to a database of personal records compiled by the company. The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court last Friday and claims that for at least five months the company failed to adequately protect people’s […]

“[…] At America’s insistence, passports are about to get their biggest overhaul since they were introduced. They are to be fitted with computer chips that have been loaded with digital photographs of the bearer (so that the process of comparing the face on the passport with the face on the person can be automated), digitised […]

“One of the nation’s largest commercial information services said yesterday that thousands of Washington area residents were among those whose personal and financial details were sold to fraud artists apparently behind a nationwide identity theft scheme. As many as 4,500 residents in the District, Maryland and Virginia were among up to 145,000 people whose names, […]